The Step Pyramid of King Zjoser - Essay Example

The Step Pyramid of King Zjoser Egypt is the land of one of the greatest and ancient civilizations of the world. It is the land of pyramids, land ofmummies. Different pictures appear before our vision when we think about Egypt. It is one of the richest and advanced civilizations of ancient world. In this article the attempt has been done to take a kaleidoscopic review of the land of Egypt. Egyptian Geographical Area: Egypt is located at the northeast corner of Africa between Mediterranean Sea in North. Libya is located on west, while Sudan is located on the south. Egypt is bordered by Red Sea and Israel on the east side. (1) The country is divided into two extreme arid regions, The North-West flowing Nile River. The Nile starts 110 miles (162 km.) south of the Mediterranean and fans out to a sea front of 155 miles between the cities of Alexandria and Port Said. The ancient Egypt was divided into two major parts, first was “black land,” and another was “red land.”The black land was situated on the bank of the river Nile and it was very fertile land. The land was used for growing crops. This was the only land in Egypt which was formed due to a layer of rich, black slit, deposited there every year after the flood of the Nile. The Red Land was a barren desert that protected Egypt from its neighbouring countries and invading armies. This region provided precious metals and semi-precious stones to Egyptians. The major responsible factor for flourishing the ancient Egyptian civilization is the river Nile. It is the gift given by God to the Egyptian people. It is hardly possible to think Egyptian civilization without the river Nile. (2) The river Nile is the longest river in the world which is over 4000 miles long. The shape of Nile is like that of a lotus flower and it is always depicted in ancient Egyptian art. The river Nile has been playing a very crucial role in developing the Egyptian civilization. The Nile River plays very important role in giving food, water to the people. The annual flood of the Nile is a precious gift for the people, because the flood makes the land rich and fertile and this rich soil is very useful for farming. Thus the Nile gives the people food and water. Apart from that the Nile supports transportation and trade; it gives material for building, making clothes and papers. The papers are made from the plant papyrus weed, which grows in the delta of the Nile. Due to the annual flooding of the Nile the people of this civilization lived a very high standard life. So without the Nile Egypt would have been a desert. (3) The flood of the Nile has brought prosperity in Egyptian life. Many myths are associated with the river. The flood of the river is also connected with the divine process. The Egyptians call it as an “arrival of Hapy.” Hapy is the river God and he is shown as a male with a beard and huge size breasts and a large belly. His huge breasts and the belly are the symbols of fertility of the Nile. He has been given a blue and green skin colour as these colours represent water and vegetation. It is rarely depicted as a hippopotamus. In Lower Egypt, Hapy is adorned with papyrus plants and he is attended by frogs. It is because papyrus plants and frogs live in Lower Egypt. In Upper Egypt Hapy is adorned by lotus. There are many crocodiles found in this region so Hapy appears with lotus and crocodiles. These animals are the symbols of these two regions. Hapy has also been depicted as a Divine figure who offers food and water. Hapy is the patron of both Upper and Lower Egypt. So in Upper Egypt he is called Hap-Reset and in Lower Egypt is known as Hap-Meht. These two deities are depicted either pouring water from a jug (associated with flood), or trying the heraldic plants (Papyrus and Lotus plants). God Khnum Anqet, and Satet were the guardians of the source of the Nile who took care for the correct amount of slit left by the water. Ibis is a kind of bird which has depicted in Egyptian myths. There are three kinds of ibis in Egypt – the sacred ibis, the hermit ibis, and the glossy ibis. Sacred ibis and glossy ibis are referred frequently. These two types of bird live on the bank of The Nile. Hermit ibis is not a water bird at all. (4) All the major cities of Egypt are located in Lower Egypt. Among them are Cairo, and Alexandria. Cairo is the first major city, which capital city of Egypt. It is located in Northern Egypt. It is located in the bank of the River Nile and one of the most populated cities in the world. Cairo has been the attraction for the tourists for many years. The city is called as “The City of Thousand Minarets.” Giza is another city in Northern Egypt which is the third largest city in Egypt. Alexandria is the second largest city in Egypt. It is located North west side of the Capital city Cairo. In the Upper Egypt, Aswan is the one of the major cities. Edfu is another city of Upper Egypt which is the religious and commercial centre. The city is 65 miles north of Aswan. History of Ancient Egypt leading up to the dynasty of King Zjoser: The dynasty in ancient Egypt has been divided into three major kingdoms: 1. The old kingdom 2. The middle kingdom 3. New Kingdom King Zjoser (5) In old kingdom there are six different dynasties King Zjoser is the second king of the first dynasty (c. 2650–c. 2575 BCE). Zjoser is regarded as one of the most efficient and outstanding kings of Egypt. His rein lasted for nineteen years. The period of his rein was remarkable for great technological innovation in the use of stone architecture. His step pyramid is supposed to be the first pyramid of Egypt. Social structure of ancient Egypt: The ancient Egyptian community was hierarchically divided into three major classes: 1. Royalty (Nobility) – Pharaohs, queens, and noble court 2. Free people (Intelligentsia) – priests, soldiers, scribes, merchants, artisans and farmers 3. Chattels – serfs, slaves Pharaohs: “Pharaohs” is the term which is used to describe the ancient rulers of Egypt. They used to be the political and religious leaders of “Two Lands.” i.e. Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt. His duty was to collect the tax, to make laws and to defend Egypt against the enemies. He was regarded as the representative of God. Hence, he used to build the temples. When the land was threatened by the enemies the Pharaohs used to go for war. If he won the war, the conquered people regarded him as their rulers and they used to offer him valuable goods. Scribes: Scribes played a very crucial role in ancient Egypt. The scribes and the priest had the privilege to read and write. They used to keep the records and supervise the society. The scribes were appointed hereditary. The generation of the same family used to enjoy the position of the scribe. He used to be the member of the educated class and thus get exemption from laborious task. “The career of scribe in ancient Egypt is as exacting in its requirements as it is honourable and profitable in its reward.” (Pg 54, “Living in Ancient Egypt.” By Norman Bancroft Hunt) Priests in ancient Egypt: The priests had a very high position in ancient Egypt. The Egyptians believed that only priests were allowed to enter the sacred temple where God exists. The priest’s duty was to take care for the needs of the God and Godesses. The Artisans of Ancient Egypt Artisans in Egypt used to provide luxury goods to the upper class people. The artisans were trained and skilled labourers. These artisans included sculptors, painters, jewellery makers and potters. The style of the art of those artisans was unique and it remained isolated from any influence of the style from Asia. So the ancient sculptors, jewellery, paintings, pottery of ancient Egypt became unique. The skilled artisans used to be the important members of the society. They used to have a status and respect. Slaves: Slaves were the lowest class in ancient Egypt. They were generally the captives or the prisoners of war. In old kingdom there is no evidence that the slave population existed in Egypt. In middle kingdom the slave population became prevalent. The concept of slavery in ancient Egypt was not like the concept of modern slavery where the slavers’ freedom was snatched away by their masters ‘Dr. H.S. Smith, Professor of Egyptology in London states in his book Ancient Centres of Egyptian Civilization, “It is now clear that unfree labour, slaves, did not play a role in Egyptian society during the Old Kingdom..”’ (“Egypt revisited, volume 10,” by Ivan Van Sertima, published transaction Publishers 1989) There was a significant population of the slaves in Egypt. The children were sold by the poor families and thus they would be the slaves. Some of the slaves were sold from the other countries to Egypt. The people from Meroe, Kush, and Lybia were slaves. When Egyptians conquered Israel in 1400 -1200 B.C. many Jews were enslaved. Most of the slaves in Egypt used to work as a house servants or skilled dancers, musicians, accountants etc. The Step Pyramid of King Zjoser: Though the pyramid of Khufu was regarded as the first true pyramid to have smooth sloping sides, the earlier pyramid was built by King Zjoser almost 200 years earlier. His pyramid is basically known as the Step pyramid. It is because it appears like six giant steps. It was built near the city called Saqquara around 2680 B.C. This pyramid was designed by the person called Imhotep, who was Zjsoer’s architect, doctor and priest. While designing the step pyramid he designed a tomb that looked like 6 mastabas stacked on top of each other. “Mastabas” means bench. The ancient Egyptian tombs looked like stone benches with sloping side. After the death of King Zjoser he was buried in a small and secret room inside the step pyramid. Around 1 million tonnes of stones were used to build this pyramid. Egypt is the land of stones so the basic material used to build the step pyramid of King Zjoser was limestone blocks. There were two types of limestone used for building the pyramid. Low grade limestone was used for the core of the pyramid whereas the fine limestone was used for the outer casting of the pyramid as well as to cover the interior walls. Limestone was for the first time used in Saqquara. At the time of building the pyramid, the builders used different kinds of tools such as copper pickaxes, chisels, granite hammers, dolerite and many other stone tools (6) The step pyramid is one of the finest specimens of the world’s ancient monuments. Monuments and building are the symbols of the king’s power and his accomplishment during his or her era. Symbolically step pyramid was the medium through which King Zjoser would be able to climb and reach to the heaven and would be a star among innumerable eternal stars. Serdab was a funereally chapel in mastaba. It was a small enclosed chamber in which the statue of the kind was placed. “Ka” is the term used by Egyptian to denote the person’s life force which leaves the body after the death of the person. Each man and woman possesses the Ka. Ka is made of a pair of upraised arms. It is placed on the top of the head of the statue. It was the belief of the Egyptian people that “Ka” lives in the tomb of a dead person even after death in the form of Ka Statue. The statue would be deified after the body was mummified. “Libations of water and precious oil were also poured over the Ka statue at annual festival to purify and refresh the deceased, practices which are still seen today in the Near East.” (7) Things found in excavation: The archaeologist found innumerable things after the excavation in Egypt. Hierakonpolis in Upper Egypt--ancient Nekhen and city of the Hawk--is a vast area for archaeological site. In this region the archaeologists found Egypt’s old preserved house, Egypt’s first temple. Sir Flinders Patrie excavated hundreds of spectacular objects from the excavation of Egypt. The collection includes decorative art from the palace-city of the “heretic pharaoh” Akhenaten and his beautiful wife Nefertiti, gold mummy masks, funerary trappings, jewelry, sculpture, and objects of daily life. (8) Lapis lazuli is a rare semi-precious blue stone. The ancient Egyptian jewellery comprised of Nefer, Buckle of the Girdle of Isis, scarab and gold collar amulet. Nefer represented the beauty it was formed in an oval shape. The jewellery made in Nefer style is still popular. The pottery of pre-dynastic Egypt had a fine quality. Badarian period pottery was made without potter’s wheel. These pots were burnished to a lustrous finish and fired leaving a black upper section and lower, deep red section. The potter wheel was invented during the old kingdom in Egypt. Masks of the dead persons are the part of ancient Egyptian tradition. The major process after the death would be the mummification of the dead bodies. Sculpted mask had the special attribute of the religious ceremony. The best known mask is the mask of Tutankhamun. This mask is now placed in the Egyptian Antiquities Museum in Cairo. The mask was made by the precious metals such as gold and many gems. Funerary masks were used for special purposes. They were used for the precautions to preserve the body after death. Specific features of mask such as eyes, eyebrows, forehead and other feature are directly associated with individual divinity. The step Pyramid was the earliest pyramid which was built in the form of a low mastaba tomb which has a step like appearance. This pyramid was built in 4600 years ago. Giza pyramid was built for King Khufu. It was completed around 2550 BC. It is estimated that this pyramid contained approximately 2,300,000 blocks of stone. It is 230 meters in length and 146.6 meters high. Pyramid of Giza is located around eight km from the capital city Cairo. It took more than 20 years to build this pyramid. This pyramid weighs around 6.5 million tons and it was built entirely through human efforts. Not a single machine or wheel is used. Along with the pyramid one major attraction of Egypt is Abu Simbel’s set of two temples. This historical monument was built for Pharaoh Ramesses II, who reigned for 67 years during the 13th century BC. A small temple was built ahead of Great temple which is dedicated to Ramesses’ wife Nefertari. At the entrance of the temple there are six rock statues which are 33 feet high, Funerary Temple of Queen Hatshepsut was a temple which was built in 18th Dynasty, in 1490 -1460 BC. It took around fifteen years to complete the temple. It was situated in the valley considered sacred for over 500 years of the principal feminine Goddess connected with the funeral world. The temple is unique in its plan, style of architecture and decoration. The temple was dedicated to God Amon but it contained chapels for Anubis and Hathor. The purpose of the temple was to worship Hatshepsut’s soul after death. It was composed of three widely spaced terraces Sources: 1. Egypt Geographic Location: Egypt Cairo taken from the following website: http://www.egypt-cairo.com/egypt_geographic_location.html 2. The information of the entire paragraph is taken from the website : http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/geography/home.html 3. The information of Nile river is taken from the book “The Essential World History,” by William J. Duiker, Jackson Spielvogel. Page 14, published by Cengage Learning 2006 4. The information about Egyptian Gods was taken from the website: http://www.ancientegyptonline.co.uk/hapi.html 5. http://www.discoveringegypt.com/dynasty1.htm 6. (The information regarding the material used for building pyramid was taken from the website http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/material.htm) 7. (Pg 297, “The sacred tradition in ancient Egypt : The esoteric wisdom revealed,” by Rosemary Clark, published Llewellyn Worldwide Publication, 2000) 8. (http://www.artknowledgenews.com/Lowe-Art_Museum.html?q=jewelry) 9. The information about the pyramids and temples are taken from the site as well as the book. The book is “The Pyramids of Egypt,” by Kerry O’Donnell, published by Rosen publishing, 2002 Read More